1) Wins and clean sheets and Joe Allens oh my! It’s been coming. Slowly but surely. But the pressure was on. Failure to win this, the first in a series of eminently winnable games between now and the festive season, … Continue reading →

1) The comeback starts here At long last, a result at Old Trafford! How typically Stoke City that our first point away at Manchester United since the week after John Lennon was shot (Lee Chapman’s strike making rather fewer headlines than … Continue reading →

1) Stoke are absolutely where they deserve to be Rewatching the ‘highlights’ of this debacle, there was a point at which Mark Hughes, exiled in dudgeon to the stands, could be seen blindly poking away at a mobile device, communication … Continue reading →

1) The Crouch gamble was understandable, but didn’t pay off Different striker, same outcome. Mark Hughes tried something different at Everton in handing Peter Crouch only his fifth league start since August 2015. Yet the underlying problems remain – Stoke simply … Continue reading →

For all the mitigating circumstances that contributed to our disappointments this season, and despite attaining a respectable position once again, Mark Hughes’ managerial reign at Stoke is under scrutiny for the first time. And with good reason.